Kevin Magnussen starts chasing American dream as F1 swansong catches him out

Kevin Magnussen says he can't help but feel 'mixed emotions' as his F1 farewell in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stayed true to form as he bowed out with a disappointing 18th place finish at Yas Marina.

The Dane, who made his F1 debut with McLaren back in 2014, has long known he was entering his final races in F1 after being dropped - together with Romain Grosjean - from the Haas F1 Team line-up in favour of Mick Schumacher snd Nikita Mazepin.

Heading Stateside in 2021 after securing a seat with Chip Ganassi Racing in the IMSA sportscar series', an 18th place finish in Abu Dhabi wasn't the finale Magnussen had hoped for in a troubling year for the Haas team all round.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Winners & Losers

After seven seasons in F1 (one with McLaren, two with Renault, four with Haas) and with his run to second on his debut in Australia remaining his sole podium result in F1, Magnussen leaves F1 satisfied to have achieved his childhood dream. 

"Mixed emotions,” he told the F1.com website. “I’m happy to have had the opportunity to have raced in F1; it was my childhood dream. I’m sad to be leaving on such a bad performance. At the end of the day though, we had no expectations coming into this race.

“We weren’t actually really taking part in the race, we were just sort of driving around… But I think this weekend has been great in terms of just saying goodbye to the team and I think we’ve had a great time. Looking back at the four years we’ve had, I really enjoyed it, and I will think back on some great memories. I wish all the best for the team in the future, I’m going to be rooting for them.”

Magnussen ends the 2020 F1 season with just a single point to his name, a tenth place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix